The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) is one of those bills that looks good on paper, but has bad consequences in practice. JASTA allows civil cases against foreign countries in regards to injuries, death, or damages as a result of terrorism. President Barack Obama vetoed the bill after Congress voted to pass it. However, Congress has voted to override his veto because they feel that families affected by 9/11 should get a chance to take legal action against Saudi Arabia.
As a result of this bill, foreign sovereignty, which limits the legal action that one can take against a country, will no longer be protected. Without foreign sovereignty, our military and government will become defenseless against backlash from Saudi Arabia and other foreign countries. Saudi Arabia is already retaliating by cutting production of their oil, lowering our supply of oil, raising the demand for the oil, and resulting in a tax increase on oil in the United States and demands of money in recompense for the invasion of Saudi Arabia. In addition, the bill has already been called into doubt by those who voted for it. After seeing these acts of retaliation from Saudi Arabia, Congress has been hesitating on its support for the bill. Some Congress members state that they expect the bill to be changed once passed so some of the counterattacks from Saudi Arabia will lessen after that. However, this remains to be seen.
Another consequence that could have major issues for the United States is what might happen if some American soldiers end up killing someone in a foreign country. This opens the door for foreign countries to throw negativity and accusations on the United States.
Even if the bill did work, there are no apparent clear ideas proposed by any of our politicians on how we would hold Saudi Arabia accountable for 9/11, making sure that the money would actually be paid and that the families who are suing are being treated fairly. Americans have been negatively affected by 9/11 enough, there is no need to raise people’s hopes for more justice when it will not be effective at all.
The JASTA bill is like spitting into the wind and expecting it to not blow back onto your face. This bill does not work, and now we are left wide open to attacks by other foreign countries that we have invaded. I do not think that America should be riling up a country that has connections with major terrorist groups unless we are going to actually hold Saudi Arabia responsible. They obviously do not take very kindly to the idea that they are going to have to pay for damages and death that 9/11 caused. Arguably the world’s largest funder of terrorist organizations and supporter of jihadism, I am just guessing that they are not going to let themselves get sued for every act of terror that they have funded. If we are not going to take a direct approach to terrorism in Saudi Arabia, and really hold them accountable for their immense funding of these terrorist groups, then we are not going to get JASTA or any other bill to work. I think that this bill is actually just a way to hide behind a piece of paper instead of actually dealing with the problem.
Although 9/11 will go down in history as one of the most infamous terrorist attacks in American history, and America as a nation should support survivors of 9/11 and families who have lost loved ones in the attack, there is no way to hold Saudi Arabia responsible for American deaths using this bill as it stands without there being negative repercussions that could continue to escalate.
